Wagner College prepares for Northeast Conference tourney home opener against Central Connecticut State

Staten Island Advance/Bill LyonsWagner College guard Tyler Murray was named to the All-Northeast Conference second team.

There is no bigger edge, or better feeling, than playing at home.

That’s especially so in a must-win situation like Wagner’s Northeast Conference quarterfinal match-up with Central Connecticut State on Thursday (7 p.m.) at what is sure to be a sold-out and electric Spiro Sports Center.

The game is Wagner’s first home conference tournament game since a 55-49 semifinal loss to Sacred Heart in 2008.

The Seahawks are 11-2 at Spiro this season, so home is exactly where they want to be.

"Being at home is just different," declared Wagner senior Tyler Murray, who was named a second-team all-conference selection Tuesday along with fellow co-captain Latif Rivers. "Everything’s familiar, you know there’s going to be a great crowd. You’re a lot more comfortable."

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THE MATCHUP

No. 7 Central Connecticut State (13-15, 10-8)

at. No. 2 Wagner (24-5, 15-3)

WHEN/WHERE/ON AIR

Thursday, 7 p.m.

Spiro Sports Center

Time Warner Cable

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Wagner’s only home losses this season were to a very good Lehigh (23-7) team, and to regular-season NEC champion and tournament No. 1 seed LIU Brooklyn (22-8).

"You can feel the support when you’re at home," Wagner coach Dan Hurley said. "There’s no question, it’s better emotionally than being on the road."

The Seahawks are 8-5 all-time in home conference tournament games. CCSU is 0-6 all-time in true road games in NEC tournament competition.

But what about the timing?

Wagner, after having just about everything go its way from wire to wire this season, is preparing to meet Central Connecticut just five days after losing 78-61 to the Blue Devils in the regular-season finale at CCSU.

Is the recent loss to a tournament opponent cause for concern for a club that had entered that game on a 17 of 18 roll?

Hurley says not.

"We beat them earlier in the season at a time when they were (5-0) in the conference," reminded Hurley. "We didn’t play well Saturday, and that was a disappointment. And Central’s not an easy match-up. But we’ll do some things differently this time, and try to correct the bad stuff."

The "bad stuff" included turning the ball over a season-high 22 times and shooting 21 percent from the floor in the first half while spotting the Blue Devils an early 15-point lead.

There was also the matter of going just 4 of 16 (25 percent) from 3-point range, the kind of number that can spell trouble for a team that likes to score from deep.

"We weren’t ready," acknowledged Hurley.

The Blue Devils have multiple scoring options inside and out.

Senior forward Ken Horton, a slick post presence who can also score from the perimeter, is 59 points away from 2,000 in a career that includes last season’s NEC Player of the Year honors as well as becoming the school’s all-time scoring leader.

The Ossining, N.Y., product and conference first-teamer is the NEC’s second leading scorer this season (No. 7 on the conference all-time list). He is trailed in the Nos. 3 and 4 positions by teammates Kyle Vinales and Robby Ptacek, and no other team in the nation has three players averaging 17.6 points per game, or above.

Vinales, the conference Rookie of the Year, is a cat-quick guard, who can shoot threes and get into the lane. He also happens to be leading the nation’s freshmen in scoring.

Ptacek is a cagey perimeter player with size and toughness. He lit Wagner up for 28 points in the first meeting between the teams on Jan. 14.

If Central’s starters are prolific offensive players, however, Wagner’s bench is just as potent a force.

The Seahawks were 8-1 at Spiro this season vs. NEC competition. In those games, the Wagner bench accounted for 26.1 points and 16.4 rebounds per game.

Ten players saw at least 12.9 minutes of action in those contests, a depth of rotation which might have had something to do with Wagner’s always fresh defense holding opposing teams to 26.9-percent shooting from 3-point range and just 41-percent shooting overall.

An example of what the bench brings to the Seahawks is the case of 6-foot-7 freshman Mario Moody. Despite playing only 12.9 minutes per game, on average, the athletic Moody averaged 5.4 points and a team-high 4.9 rebounds to go along with a game-changing 1.4 blocks.

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As of Tuesday evening there were still several hundred tickets available for Thursday’s game.

The Spiro Center box office is open Wednesday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.

For ticket information call 718-420-4039.

Follow our comprehensive coverage of Wagner College basketball at silive.com/colleges and on Twitter: @SILiveWagner.